Compilation 5: Senate, "first-past-the-post" vs "proportional representation", Security, Al Jazeera, UNSCAM, Killer Cults, Charity-Terror Front, CAIR

List of Articles:
"first-past-the-post" vs "proportional representation",
* Paul Martin's 'Senate-in-waiting'
* My Commentary: "first-past-the-post" vs "proportional representation", "the centre" and "red necks"
* Check this -- Al Jazeera
* Racism, Democrat-style -- and a trip down memory lane
* Palestinian Canadian convicted of planning attacks in North America
* UNSCAM -- UN knew of Saddam's oil-for-food thefts: BBC
* UNSCAM: Kofi’s black box syndrome
* Europe to the barricades
* Killer cults giving Muslims a bad name
* Charity a front for terrorists, Day alleges -- Based in Mississauga, Ont.; A reconstituted version of group identified as Hamas fundraiser
* The question of CAIR -- libel notice served on National Post and David Frum -- and the public record
* Canadian Coalition for Democracies: O Canada - how could you?
* The Palestinian press in action -- just link, look, listen to the videos, and think
* Hansard -- Terrorism and Petitions: Canadian Forces Housing and the Age of Consent * No child left unmedicated

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Paul Martin's 'Senate-in-waiting'

Paul Martin's 'Senate-in-waiting' November 22, 2004, Link Byfield, chairman of the Edmonton-based Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy.

"Just Between Us" is a feature service of the Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy. The purpose of the Citizens Centre is to enhance freedom and democracy by enabling ordinary citizens to become active and effective on important issues outside the normal processes of party politics.

Prime Minister Paul Martin delivered one of those bogus statements last week which make politicians sound like they love something they actually hate.

Opposition Leader Steve Harper had asked whether Martin will appoint the winners of the special Senate election Albertans are holding today, alongside a provincial general election.

In other provinces the PM's Senate appointees are local loyal Liberals. But in Alberta the PM drags his feet appointing anyone, because since we began electing Senate nominees in 1989 it looks bad when he ignores democracy.

Albertans have turned one of the more pleasant prime ministerial duties into a public relations nightmare.

As a result half of Alberta's six seats have fallen vacant. One has been empty for two years. The situation is unique in Canada.

[. . . . ] The Perfect Paul Martin Senate would probably be "indirectly elected" (the standard euphemism) by an expert committee of incumbent senators, retired cabinet ministers and federal judges, feminists and academics, all named to the committee by the Prime Minister. [italics -- ed.]

The Perfect Paul Martin Senate would probably be 50% women, 55% francophone, 25% senators of color, 10% specially-abled, 10% Aboriginal, 10% gay activists, and 99% Liberals.

Selections for the Perfect Paul Martin Senate would probably be rubber-stamped by a Commons committee dominated by Liberals and prevented from interviewing the candidates. (That's how we now staff the Supreme Court.) [. . . . ]

Excellent assessment! The PM makes appointments in every area of governing and peripheral groups, anywhere it counts to maintain the Liberal status quo. Paul Martin misspoke himself to get elected when he spoke of reforming the process; he neglected to mention that any change would occur AFTER he appointed those whom he wanted in the SCOC. He appointed two female justices who fit into the leftish, activist, Liberal mould. Same old, same old.




My Commentary: "first-past-the-post" vs "proportional representation", "the centre" and "red necks" Financial Post, Nov. 25, 04, Lawrence Solomon

The following is based on Our voting system has weathered the fiercest storms -- History has proven beats proportional representation

As for changing the "first-past-the-post" system for "proportional representation", Lawrence Solomon makes an excellent case for staying with the system we have -- even though though proportional representation appears at first glance to be more representative of the views of all segments of society and thus more democratic. The article also touches upon the utility of moving toward the "centre", although I would argue that, in Canada, one party has determined the discussion on this and it has gerrymandered what is acceptable as the "centre" through controlling media, education, appointments (activist justices on the SCOC are just one aspect of many; another is Human Rights Commissions ), employment and advancement to the point where only this group's views are seen as centrist. Thus, a whole range of Canadians with other views are afraid to speak out and are branded "red-necks".

Those "red necks" of my acquaintance are some of the finest people I know -- people who are concerned about:

* traditional parenting -- that is, two-parents of the opposite sex as the best way to raise the best citizens

* traditional marriage -- as having withstood the test of time over millenia as the best situation for raising children though, obviously, misfortune may intervene

* the right to continue to express their beliefs in Canada -- often Christian beliefs, although not limited to practising Christians; non-Christians may agree with the logic and support them

* the right to free speech on contentious issues being curtailed through heavy-handed government activity -- and more.

These are the people who see their freedoms being eroded in the government's quest to render Canada values-neutral -- whatever the consequences that they see all around them. These are the people who have something precious they want to conserve -- people who are not willing to live a values-neutral life in the face of what they see as much evidence that it is not working; just look at the crime statistics, increasing violence and weaponry evident, sexualization of children along with "health curricula" / media / entertainment which exacerbate these trends. These people want this to stop, but their views are branded as not "centrist".

Who is determining the "centre" in Canada? I would argue that this has, for too long, been the purview of the overweaning power to force its views on the electorate of the governing body which has changed our country immeasurably over the last many years. That is the Liberal government, in concert with the Red Tories, who are simply Liberals in waiting.

Of course, I am biased by my respect for the "red necks" of my acquaintance through personal knowledge or reading what they write. They are the bedrock of what is enduring and best in Canada.

The mainstream media should talk with a few of them and find out what and why they think as they do, instead of disparaging them as "not mainstream" or "Christian"--almost a term of opprobrium in Canada. Then the media types should write.




Check this -- Al Jazeera

Iraq minister brands Al-Jazeera a 'terror channel' -- with a link to the original article.


Racism, Democrat-style -- and a trip down memory lane

Racism, Democrat-style Ruben Navarrette Jr., Nov. 24, 2004

Dallas -- A LATINO attorney general? A black woman as secretary of state?

Who would have imagined it 50 years ago -- or even, more recently, say, during the Clinton administration? Give President Bush credit for breaking barriers that his Democratic predecessor never got around to.

Just don't tell that to white liberals thrilled with the idea of minorities doing well -- as long as liberals can claim credit. If they can't, or if the minorities happen to be conservative, things can get messy. [. . . . ]

Palestinian Canadian convicted of planning attacks in North America

Palestinian-Canadian convicted Joseph Federman, Nov. 24, 04

or Palestinian Canadian convicted of planning attacks in North America Josef Federman, CP, Nov. 24, 04, posted by Marek Nov. 24. 04

JERUSALEM (AP-CP) -- A Gaza-born Canadian citizen pleaded guilty Wednesday to planning attacks on Israelis in North America and was sentenced by a military court to four years in prison, the Israeli army said.

Jamal Akkal, 24, was arrested in Gaza on Nov. 1, 2003, and charged by the military with conspiracy to commit murder. Prosecutors said Akkal planned to carry out attacks against Israeli officials travelling in the United States, as well as bombings against Jewish targets in North America.

[. . . . ] Akkal was born and raised in the Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza and moved to Canada in 1999, where he became a citizen. He lived in Windsor, Ont.

[. . . . ] During the trial, Akkal claimed he had come to Gaza to get engaged to a cousin, also of the Nusseirat refugee camp. The army said he met with militants from the violent Islamic group Hamas, received weapons training and planned attacks. [. . . . ]

UNSCAM -- UN knew of Saddam's oil-for-food thefts: BBC

UNSCAM -- UN knew of Saddam's oil-for-food thefts: BBC Caroline Overington, New York Correspondent, Nov. 22, 2004

The United Nations knew that Iraqi president Saddam Hussein was stealing from the oil-for-food program - and, by extension, starving his own people - but did little to stop it, according to a special report by the BBC at the weekend.

After a six-month investigation, the BBC said it had evidence that Saddam took billions from the oil-for-food program, and that "these abuses were widely known about at the time". The BBC said there was evidence that Saddam demanded a kickback from companies that wanted to do business with Iraq under the oil-for-food program.

[. . . . ] The BBC sent a reporter to Iraq and Jordan to track down people involved in the oil-for-food program, which has been described as the largest financial swindle in history. Virtually all said that Saddam took kickbacks from companies who sold goods to Iraq, and that the UN knew this. The businessmen - most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity - said it was standard to pay commissions, that nobody complained, and that was the price of doing business with Iraq.

[. . . . ] The allegations have left the UN fighting for its reputation. The oil-for-food program is being investigated by six US congressional committees and by the UN itself.

[. . . . ] Some of that money allegedly went to the families of Palestinian suicide bombers. It is also alleged that Saddam paid foreign journalists and sympathetic foreign officials, as a way of getting them to campaign to get the sanctions lifted. Around 270 people are alleged to have received vouchers to sell oil for millions of dollars in profit. [. . . . ]

UNSCAM: Kofi’s black box syndrome

Kofi’s black box syndrome Judi McLeod, anadafreepress.com, Nov. 22, 04.

The United Nations staff union expressing lack of confidence in the senior management of the world’s largest bureaucracy is the same one that drummed out Denis Beissel of hidden "black box" infamy.

Beissel, the UN official who took receipt of a black box flight data recorder from a downed 1994 aircraft, unearthed a decade later in a locked file cabinet in Kofi Annan’s Peacekeeping Department, departed the scene following a highly publicized clash with the UN staff union. [. . . . ]

Europe to the barricades


Europe to the barricades Tony Blankley, Nov. 24, 04

This Christmastime could be the moment when Western Europe finally joins our war on terrorism. Anti-Islamist fear and anger from the mouths of the European volk are breaking through the surface calm perpetuated by the elite European appeasers. The assassination and mutilation of Dutch filmmaker van Gogh by an Islamic fanatic -- and the retaliatory fire-bombings of mosques by ethnic Dutchmen -- has forced high European leaders and news outlets to begin to publicly face up to the implications of Sept. 11, 2001 and the migration of Muslims in large and hostile numbers into the heart of Europe.

From Holland's leading newspaper, the Telegraaf, to Germany's liberal Berliner Zeitung and Der Spiegel (roughly, the European equivalents of the The New York Times, The Washington Post and Time magazine) has come the same heated prose that could be found in the United States in the aftermath of September 11. And here in the United States, even the liberal National Public Radio Network's (NPR) "All Things Considered" is beginning to seriously report European volkish fury the way they usually report breathlessly on the latest developments in Brazilian rainforest depletion.

Der Spiegel wrote: "The veil of multiculturalism has been lifted, revealing parallel societies where the law of the state does not apply." The Berliner Zeitung headlined their story: "Fear is spreading." In Holland, the very dignified Telegraaf wrote: " ... magazines and papers which include incitements should be suppressed, unsuitable mosques should be shut down and imams who encourage illegal acts should be thrown out of the country." [. . . . ]

Killer cults giving Muslims a bad name

Killer cults giving Muslims a bad name John O'Sullivan, Nov, 23, 2004, Chicago Sun Times

Van Gogh and Hassan fell victim to a sectarian fundamentalist cult within Islam. As the murder of Hassan shows, that cult is murderously hostile to other Muslims almost as much as it is to the adherents of other religions. Yet that same cult is destroying the good name of Islam throughout the world.

[. . . . ] People worldwide are realizing that the cult threatens them wherever they are -- in Baghdad like Hassan or in a European city like van Gogh. Like Americans after Sept. 11, Europeans are waking up to the fact that no one is safe. That makes them concerned about exactly who and what are threatening their lives. And when Muslims seem reluctant to condemn the cult and its murders, their neighbors wonder if Islam is compatible with the freedom and tolerance of a liberal society -- and therefore if Muslim immigration should continue unchecked. [. . . . ]

Charity a front for terrorists, Day alleges -- Based in Mississauga, Ont.; A reconstituted version of group identified as Hamas fundraiser

Charity a front for terrorists, Day alleges -- Based in Mississauga, Ont.; A reconstituted version of group identified as Hamas fundraiser November 23, 2004, Sean Gordon, CanWest

[. . . . ] Joseph Ben-Ami, a spokesperson for Jewish rights group B'nai B'rith, called on Ottawa to "thoroughly investigate" IRFAN Canada and strip its charitable status if it turns out any funds made their way into Hamas coffers.

Day said federal records indicate IRFAN Canada, which also has offices in Ottawa and Montreal, raised more than $10 million from 2000-03. He said a report by an Israeli researcher suggests that IRFAN is a reconstituted version of another group called the Jerusalem Fund.

Canadian Charity Linked to Illegal Terrorist Organization Al Gordon, posted Nov, 21, 04, Canadian Coalition for Democracies




The question of CAIR -- libel notice served on National Post and David Frum -- and the public record

The question of CAIR posted by Al Gordon on the Canadian Coalition for Democracies website, Nov. 23, 04 -- or here David Frum, National Post, Nov. 23, 04

Two weeks ago, the National Post and I were served with a notice of libel by the Canadian branch of the Council on American Islamic Relations, or CAIR. The Post and I are not alone. Over the past year, CAIR's Canadian and U.S branches have served similar libel notices on half a dozen other individuals and organizations in the United States and Canada. Each case has its own particular facts, yet they are linked by a common theme: That we defendants have accused CAIR (in the words of the notice served on me) of being "an unscrupulous, Islamist, extremist sympathetic group in Canada supporting terrorism."

[. . . . ] CAIR is understandably protective of its reputation. Until recently, it has had considerable success winning acceptance in the United States and Canada as something close to an official spokesman for local Muslim communities. CAIR has been influential in advocating for a sharia court to arbitrate divorces and other family-law matters in the province of Ontario. CAIR's strong criticisms of Canada's anti-terror legislation have won respectful hearing in Ottawa. Any reporting or commentary that cast doubt on CAIR's carefully cultivated image would deeply threaten the group's mission.

What is that mission? The public record offers some clues: . . .

This is chock full of information. Do link.




Canadian Coalition for Democracies: O Canada - how could you?

O Canada - how could you? Nov. 23, 04, Joan O'Callaghan, Associate Director of Communications for the Canadian Coalition for Democracies.

Everyone is sensing some sort of opportunity – although nobody is sure what kind of opportunity – in the power vacuum left by Arafat. Various interested parties are jumping on board the peace train.

The latest comer is Canada's Prime Minister Paul Martin, himself recently elected although not with the clear majority accorded his American counterpart.

But is Canada's involvement in any peace process really in Israel's best interests?

Although Canada claims to be a friend of Israel, an examination of Canada's actions both internationally and domestically should raise a few eyebrows and generate some hard questions.

[. . . . ] While mouthing platitudes about Israel's right to defend itself, Canada has managed to condemn just about everything Israel does in its own defense. [. . . . my emphasis -- ed. ]

Link for the details.




The Palestinian press in action -- just link, look, listen to the videos, and think

cartoons, videos, text -- no comment necessary Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook, November 22, 2004, via honestreporting

Contents:

* PA Press: US soldier is rapist and Rice is "Exterminator"
* Mother on PATV: Son's Shahada -martyrdom, is a "wedding," time of joy
* PA cartoons: Bin Laden Deciding US Election
* Puppet promotes massacre with AK-47 on PA TV program for Palestinian children
* Palestinian children in combat support roles
* Palestinian Hate Videos Reflect Ideology Israel Behind All World Terror and Wars
* Striking New PA TV Hate Video - Israel Behind All World Terror and Waras
* Mother Promotes Killing and Death - Return of PA TV Clip
* Twice in three days on PA TV: PA religious leaders call for genocide of Jews

Hansard -- Terrorism and Petitions: Canadian Forces Housing and the Age of Consent

Terrorism

Mr. Stockwell Day (Okanagan—Coquihalla, CPC): [. . . . ] four years ago the Privy Council warned the government about organizations that were raising funds in Canada for Palestinian terrorist groups. One of those organizations was the Jerusalem fund, now called IRFAN, and that group still raises money for Palestinian terror groups today.

Even Saudi Arabia has announced that it will shut down those types of organizations within its country. When will our country at least rise to Saudi Arabia's standard and shut down these groups that are raising money for Palestinian terror groups?

Hon. John McCallum (Minister of National Revenue, Lib.): Mr. Speaker, while I cannot comment on specific cases, I can say that it is extremely important that charitable giving gets to legitimate charities.

[. . . . ]

(1500)

[Hamas fundraising in Canada again Paul Lungen, Canadian Coalition for Democracy ]

Petitions

[Canadian Forces]

Mr. Jay Hill (Prince George—Peace River, CPC):

[. . . ] on behalf of our military families.

[. . . ] Canadian Forces Housing Agency . . . . many of those homes on our bases across the land are substandard to acceptable living conditions, and their rent keeps rising every year.

Therefore, the petitioners [from Windsor] call upon Parliament to immediately suspend any future rent increases for accommodation provided by the Canadian Forces Housing Agency until such time as the Government of Canada makes substantive improvements to the living conditions of housing provided for our military families.

Age of Consent

Mr. Jay Hill (Prince George—Peace River, CPC): [. . . . ] The petitioners [Dawson Creek] wish to draw to the attention of the House to the fact that our children need protection from sexual exploitation. They therefore call upon Parliament to protect our children by taking all necessary steps to raise the age of consent for sexual interaction, from 14 years of age to 18 years of age.

The National Post, Nov. 25, 04 had an article on the new health curriculum in New Brunswick. The author wrote logically and convincingly on why teaching sexual health should emphasize abstinence -- and it is not a faith-based reason. One of the problems with discussing sex education has been the assumption that abstinence is only a faith-based approach; this article informs without tying sexual activity to Christian belief -- worth reading. Check for the article.




No child left unmedicated

No child left unmedicated Phyllis Schlafly, Nov. 23, 04

Big Brother is on the march. A plan to subject all children to mental health screening is under way, and pharmaceutical companies are gearing up for bigger sales of psychotropic drugs.
Like most liberal big-spending ideas, this one was slipped into the law under cover of soft semantics. Its genesis was the New Freedom Commission on Mental Health created by President George W. Bush in 2002.

The commission recommends "routine and comprehensive" testing and mental health screening for every child in the United States, including preschoolers. The president has instructed 25 federal agencies to develop a plan to implement the commission's recommendations.

The commission proposes using electronic medical records for mental health interrogation of both children and adults for mental illnesses in school and during routine physical exams. The commission also recommends integrating electronic health records and personal health information systems.

It recommends "linkage" of these mental examinations with "state-of-the-art treatments" using "specific medications for specific conditions." That means prescribing more expensive patented antidepressants and antipsychotic drugs.

[. . . . ]